VENTURA

Fire in river bottom sparks power outage

Firefighters worked through the day Friday to mop up a brush fire that burned more than 3 acres in the Ventura River bottom, authorities said.

The fire was reported about 4:15 a.m. Friday in the river bottom near Highway 33 and West Main Street in Ventura, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

The fire destroyed a 16,000-volt power line, knocking out power to about 4,000 Southern California Edison customers in Ventura, authorities said.

The outage began about 5 a.m. in an area bordered by Shell Road and West Santa Clara, Crimea and Garden streets, said Jane Brown, a regional manager for the utility. By 7:45 a.m., all but 20 customers had their power back. The cause of the blaze was unclear Friday. No injuries were reported.

At least 16 homeless people living in the river bottom were evacuated, authorities said.

CAMARILLO

Fundraiser set for cancer programs

St. John's Healthcare Foundation will hold its annual Brighten a Life fundraiser 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 11 at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard to benefit cancer education and treatment programs through St. John's Cancer Center of Ventura County.

Participants will be able to remember and honor their loved ones by purchasing a light or ornament in their name to benefit St. John's hospitals. Donation levels range from $25 to $2,500. To donate, contact Heather Nunes of the St. John's Healthcare Foundation at 981-7308.

OXNARD

Family flees apartment fire

Two adults and three teenagers were displaced from their Oxnard apartment this week after an electrical short in a wall outlet caused a fire, authorities said.

The family awoke to the smell of smoke at the apartment in the 1100 block of Hull Place about 11:36 p.m. Thursday, said Deborah Shane, spokeswoman for the Oxnard Fire Department. The apartment had smoke detectors, but they were not working.

The family was able to get out of the apartment without assistance.

Firefighters confined the blaze to one room of the apartment and extinguished it within five minutes of arriving.

The fire caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damage to the contents of the apartment, officials said.

The American Red Cross responded to the scene to help the displaced family.

VENTURA COUNTY

Donation is woman's gift to son who died 41 years ago

The youngest of Doris Stein's three children died in a car accident on Oct. 24, 1966, three days after his 16th birthday. Every year since the death of her son, Bobby Straeck, Stein has contributed money to the Salvation Army in his name.

This year, she gave $100 to The Star's Bellringer campaign.

"That's his Christmas present," said the Ojai woman. "I can't give him anything else."

Stein, 84, makes the Salvation Army her charity of choice because of her first husband, who died in World War II, and her second, who died on Dec. 7, 2006.

"Both said the Salvation Army did so much for them," she said.

The Star's annual Bellringer drive will run through Christmas, with the newspaper publishing lists of readers' contributions daily.

All money raised will be given to the Salvation Army to serve needy local people.

For a list of new donors and where to send contributions, see B6.

THOUSAND OAKS

Fillmore man dies in traffic accident

Kevin Jackson Lovo, 19, was killed in Thousand Oaks on Friday after the vehicle he was driving collided with another vehicle, police said.

The 8:47 a.m. collision happened as Lovo, a Fillmore resident, was driving south on Erbes Road near Tubbs Street when his vehicle slid across the road and collided with a sport utility vehicle that was traveling north. Police said it was raining at the time.

Lovo was dead at the scene, police said.

Police said the driver of the sport utility vehicle, Edith Patricia, 47, of Thousand Oaks, received moderate injuries.

The cause of the collision remained under investigation late Friday.

An autopsy today will determine the cause of Lovo's death, said Ventura County Deputy Medical Examiner Michael Tellez.

— From staff reports